Brooklyn Nets draft LSU star Cameron Thomas in first round

The announcements of Cam Thomas' name Thursday night in the Barclays Center will not be the last.

The host Brooklyn Nets selected the LSU star at No. 27 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft to join a star-studded roster with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

Thomas gives the Tigers a draftee for the third straight year, joining second-rounders Tremont Waters in 2019 and Skylar Mays in 2020.

He becomes the program's highest pick since the Philadelphia 76ers chose Ben Simmons first overall in 2016.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound shooting guard out of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia was a prolific scorer in his lone season in Baton Rouge, a highly decorated freshman campaign.

Thomas finished fourth nationally with 23.0 points per game on 203-for-500 (40.1%) shooting to earn USA Today Second-Team All-American and All-SEC First-Team honors and be named the LSWA's Louisiana Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

That average marked the 13th-highest season scoring average in LSU history and fourth-highest among a first-year player behind only Pete Maravich, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (then Chris Jackson) and Bob Pettit.

Thomas added 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his 33.9 minutes per contest in a season in which he drew constant praise from coach Will Wade for his maturity at his age.